The attack was claimed by a small al-Qaida-linked faction that has challenged the Islamist Hamas group's rule in the Gaza Strip.

Israel,
which holds Hamas responsible for any violence emanating from the
enclave, retaliated by shutting the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing on
the Gaza border - which it re-opened this week - and by enforcing a
newly restricted 5 km wide fishing zone.

The zone had been
extended to 11 km as part of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that ended
an eight-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in November, in which 166
Palestinians and six Israelis were killed.

"We have informed
Cairo of this violation and we are waiting to hear a clear position from
Egyptian mediators on this," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said last
week, giving no indication that Hamas wanted to abandon the ceasefire
arrangement.

An Egyptian official confirmed that the Hamas
complaint had been received, saying Israel had complained separately
about the rocket attack - the second of its kind since November.

The official said Cairo would contact both sides to "restore their commitment to the truce."

Nunu
also said that the Hamas leader would be discussing "the problem of
(Palestinian) prisoners (held by Israel) and Hamas-Egypt relations,"
according to AFP.